DDRIG in DRMS: The Effects of Internalized Cultural Inferiority on Political Attitudes and Behavior

Non-White individuals face social pressure to accept or embrace racial stereotypes and ideologies that characterize their own racial groups as inferior, a phenomenon of internalized cultural inferiority. Existing research demonstrates that internalized cultural inferiority can generate poor mental and physical health among non-White individuals. This project examines how this mentality affects Black individuals’ interactions with government, specifically in settings where most citizens are Black. Historical racial stereotypes and ideologies suggest that Black individuals are not capable citizens or political leaders. As a result, Black individuals who accept these ideas may participate in politics less and/or judge Black-led governments more harshly than they otherwise would. Understanding these effects is important because negative stereotypes can be powerful enough to create self-fulfilling prophecies; in other words, stereotypes can actually degrade the objective quality of government services over time. This research highlights how racial inequality may reproduce and sustain itself, even in cases with minimal contemporary legal barriers to political equality. Scholars and activists in certain contexts have identified this mentality as a ubiquitous, persistent, and damaging legacy of colonialism and imperialism. Nonetheless, social scientists have largely ignored this social ill in these contexts, limiting knowledge about its prevalence, its consequences, and means of mitigating it. This research better equips policymakers and practitioners by providing measurement tools and by identifying potential social harms arising from an internalized cultural inferiority. This research project surveys six hundred Black respondents to accomplish two goals. First, the researchers develop a new scale to measure this mentality. This scale is substantially shorter than existing scales – only four to six items – making it easier for social scientists to conduct policy-relevant research. Second, this survey generates evidence to examine how this mentality affects Black individuals’ political attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. In particular, it tests hypotheses that this mentality (1) reduces self-assessed political competency, as well as propensity to vote and take other political action, and (2) generates more unfavorable evaluations of government performance under Black leadership. The same survey collects data for both scale development and hypothesis testing simultaneously as a cost saving measure; however, the researchers finalize the scale before examining political data to prevent generating bias toward their own hypotheses. By increasing understanding of the causes and consequences of a this mentality, the research provides useful information for policy makers in their efforts to reduce internalized cultural inferiority. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.